U.S. patent application number 11/360396 was filed with the patent office on 2006-07-06 for medicine ingestion state management method, medicine and medicine ingestion state management device.
This patent application is currently assigned to FUJITSU LIMITED. Invention is credited to Hitoshi Kimura, Morihito Notani.
Application Number | 20060145876 11/360396 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34260114 |
Filed Date | 2006-07-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060145876 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kimura; Hitoshi ; et
al. |
July 6, 2006 |
Medicine ingestion state management method, medicine and medicine
ingestion state management device
Abstract
Disclosed is a medicine ingestion state management method
capable of objectively managing medicine ingestion states of
patients. The medicine ingestion state management method involves
an operation of prescribing medicine (10) encapsulating, together
with a medicament, a medicine information transmitting unit (20)
having a function of transmitting medicine information capable of
specifying a type and a quantity of the medicament to each
individual patient, and an operation of grasping the medicine
ingestion state of each patient by collecting the medicine
information from each medicine information transmitting unit (20)
in each patient.
Inventors: |
Kimura; Hitoshi; (Kawasaki,
JP) ; Notani; Morihito; (Kawasaki, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
STAAS & HALSEY LLP
SUITE 700
1201 NEW YORK AVENUE, N.W.
WASHINGTON
DC
20005
US
|
Assignee: |
FUJITSU LIMITED
Kawasaki
JP
|
Family ID: |
34260114 |
Appl. No.: |
11/360396 |
Filed: |
February 24, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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PCT/JP03/11199 |
Sep 2, 2003 |
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11360396 |
Feb 24, 2006 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
340/573.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61B 5/4839 20130101;
A61B 5/4833 20130101; G06Q 10/10 20130101; G16H 10/60 20180101;
A61B 90/98 20160201; A61J 3/007 20130101; A61B 5/411 20130101; A61B
5/073 20130101; G16H 20/13 20180101 |
Class at
Publication: |
340/573.1 |
International
Class: |
G08B 23/00 20060101
G08B023/00 |
Claims
1. A medicine ingestion state management method of acquiring a
medicine ingestion state of a patient via wireless communications
between a medicine encapsulating, together with a medicament, a
medicine information transmitting unit having a function of
transmitting medicine information defined as information capable of
specifying a type and a quantity of the medicament and a computer
including a wireless communication device and accessible to a
database stored with the medicine information and the type and the
quantity of the medicament in a way that associates these items of
information with each other, said method comprising: a medicine
information collecting step of making said computer receive and
collect, through said wireless communication device, the medicine
information transmitted by said each medicine information
transmitting unit existing within a space within a predetermined
range including the patient; and a gasping step of grasping the
ingestion state of the patient by making said computer access said
database and read the type and the quantity of the medicament
associated with each record of medicine information collected in
said medicine information collecting step.
2. A medicine ingestion state management method according to claim
1, wherein said medicine information transmitting unit encapsulated
in said medicine includes detection means detecting that said
self-unit enters a body, date/time specifying means specifying a
date/time as an ingestion date/time when said self-unit gets
existed in-vivo is detected by said detection means, storage means
stored with the ingestion date/time specified by said date/time
specifying means in such a way that the ingestion date/time
information is contained in the medicine information, and medicine
information transmitting means transmitting the medicine
information containing the ingestion date/time information stored
on said storage means.
3. A medicine ingestion state management method according to claim
1, wherein said each medicine encapsulates said single or plural
medicine information transmitting units that change(s) in mode for
transmitting the medicine information differently from a mode kept
so far when said self-unit enters a predetermined in-vivo part.
4. A medicine ingestion state management method of acquiring a
medicine ingestion state of a patient via wireless communications
between a medicine encapsulating, together with a medicament, a
first type medicine information transmitting unit having a function
of transmitting medicine information defined as information capable
of specifying a type and a quantity of the medicament, and a second
type medicine information transmitting unit having a function of
transmitting second identifying information associated with first
identifying information transmitted by said first type medicine
information transmitting unit and coming to a status of not
transmitting the second identifying information after said
self-unit has entered a specified in-vivo part, and a computer
including a wireless communication device and accessible to a
database stored with the medicine information and the type and the
quantity of the medicament in a way that associates these items of
information with each other, said method comprising: a medicine
information collecting step of making said computer collect the
medicine information and the first identifying information
transmitted by said first type medicine information transmitting
unit existing within a space within a predetermined range including
the patient' body, and the second identifying information
transmitted by said second type medicine information transmitting
unit; and a gasping step of grasping the ingestion state of the
patient by making said computer access said database and read in
the various items of medicine information collected in said
medicine information collecting step, the type and the quantity of
the medicament associated with the medicine information containing
the second identifying information corresponding to the first
identifying information transmitted from said same first type
medicine information transmitting unit but not collected in said
medicine information collecting step.
5. A medicine occluding a medicament and encapsulating a medicine
information transmitting unit, wherein said medicine information
transmitting unit is a unit including medicine information
transmitting means transmitting medicine information defined as
information capable of specifying a type and a quantity of the
medicament.
6. A medicine according to claim 5, wherein said medicine
information transmitting unit further includes: detection means
detecting that said unit enters a body; and date/time specifying
means specifying a date/time when said detection means detects that
said unit enters the body, and said medicine information
transmitting means transmits medicine information containing
ingestion date/time information representing a date/time specified
by said date/time specifying means.
7. A medicine according to claim 6, wherein said detection means of
said medicine information transmitting unit detects that said unit
enters the body when said medicine information transmitting unit
touches a predetermined substance existing in-vivo.
8. A medicine according to claim 7, wherein said medicine
information transmitting unit further includes power generating
means that starts generating power upon touching the substance
existing in-vivo, and said detection means detects that said unit
enters the body when power supply from said power generating means
is started.
9. A medicine according to claim 8, wherein said date/time
specifying means of said medicine information transmitting unit
starts, when the power supply from said power generation means is
started, measuring a period of elapsed time since that point of
starting time, then starts a process of monitoring reception of
present date/time information representing a present date/time,
and, when receiving the present date/time information for the first
time after the start of measuring the period of elapsed time,
specifies a date/time when said detection means detects that said
unit enters the body from the period of elapsed time since that
point of starting time and from the present date/time shown by the
present date/time information.
10. A medicine according to any one of claims 5 through 9, wherein
said medicine information transmitting means of said medicine
information transmitting unit transmits the medicine information
containing information representing a medicine effective period of
the medicine.
11. A medicine occluding a medicament and encapsulating a first
type medicine information transmitting unit and a second type
medicine information transmitting unit, wherein said first type
medicine information transmitting unit is a unit having a function
of transmitting information capable of specifying a type and a
quantity of the medicament and first identifying information that
uniquely identifies said self-unit, and said second type medicine
information transmitting unit is a unit having a function of
transmitting second identifying information corresponding to the
first identifying information transmitted by said first type
medicine information transmitting unit, and coming to a status of
not transmitting the second identifying information after said
self-unit has entered a specified in-vivo part.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to a medicine ingestion state
management method, a medicine ingestion state management device and
a medicine that are used for objectively managing a medicine
ingestion state of a patient.
BACKGROUND ARTS
[0002] As known well, over the recent years, the great majority of
hospitals have been using databases for managing which medicine was
prescribed to each individual patient. Further, there was proposed
a technology of attaching, to the patient, a wrist band fitted with
an IC tag (transponder) recorded with identifying information etc
of the patient in order to prevent the patient (inpatient) and a
medical material to be mistreated (in order not to misuse
information on the database) (refer to, e.g., Patent document 1,
Patent document 2).
[0003] Patent document 1 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
Publication No. 2002-230182
[0004] Patent document 2 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
Publication No. 2002-109070
[0005] Now, information necessary for conducting proper
prescription is information about a type and a quantity of the
medicine that is actually ingested by the patient, however, none of
the databases (i.e., the existing databases employed in the medical
field) employed for the technology described above is stored with
any information on persons who are not outpatients to the
self-hospital, and each of these databases is stored with
information merely about the medicine of which ingestion is
instructed to each of the outpatients to the self-hospital.
[0006] Namely, the existing database used in the medical field is
stored with none of the information about the patients who are not
the outpatients (nor the inpatients) to the self-hospital and is
not stored, though stored with the information serving as key
information for determining a content of the prescription for each
of the outpatients to the self-hospital, with all necessary items
of information for conducting the proper prescription.
[0007] Therefore, when determining the content of the prescription
for a certain patient, even if this patient is the outpatient to
the self-hospital, there is a necessity of diagnostically
interviewing the outpatient about what type of medicine is ingested
(about whether the prescribed medicine is actually ingested or
not).
[0008] Then, in response to this diagnostic interview, if the
outpatient accurately reports the name and the quantity of the
ingested medicine, it follows that a proper medicine is to be
prescribed to the outpatient. Whereas if the outpatient does not
precisely memorize the name and the quantity of the medicine
ingested by the outpatient or if the patient gets unconscious,
there were a case of prescribing to the patient a medicine
incompatible to the medicine that is actually ingested by the
patient and a case of giving an excessive dosage of the medicine to
the patient.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
[0009] Such being the case, it is an object of the present
invention to provide a medicine ingestion state management method,
a medicine ingestion state management device and a medicine each
capable of objectively managing a medicine ingestion state of a
patient.
[0010] A medicine ingestion state management method according to a
first mode of the present invention that is devised to solve the
problems given above is a method of acquiring a medicine ingestion
state of a patient via wireless communications between a medicine
encapsulating, together with a medicament, a medicine information
transmitting unit having a function of transmitting medicine
information defined as information capable of specifying a type and
a quantity of the medicament and a computer including a wireless
communication device and accessible to a database stored with the
medicine information and the type and the quantity of the
medicament in a way that associates these items of information with
each other, wherein the computer sequentially executes a medicine
information collecting step of receiving and collecting, through
the wireless communication device, the medicine information
transmitted by the each medicine information transmitting unit
existing within a space within a predetermined range including the
patient; and a gasping step of grasping the ingestion state of the
patient by accessing the database and reading the type and the
quantity of the medicament associated with each record of medicine
information collected in the medicine information collecting
step.
[0011] Similarly, a medicine ingestion state management device
according to the first mode of the present invention is a device
for managing a patient's ingestion state of a medicine
encapsulating, together with a medicament, a medicine information
transmitting unit having a function of transmitting medicine
information defined as information capable of specifying a type and
a quantity of the medicament, the device comprising medicine
information receiving means receiving the medicine information
transmitted by each medicine information transmitting unit existing
in a space within a predetermined range including the patient,
searching means accessing a database stored with the medicine
information and a type and a quantity of the medicament in a way
that associates these items of information with each other and
reading the type and the quantity of the medicament associated with
each record of medicine information received by the medicine
information receiving means, and information output means
outputting the information representing the type and the quantity
of the medicament that are read by the searching means.
[0012] According to the medicine ingestion state management method
and the medicine ingestion state management device, it is possible
to grasp what type of medicine is ingested by the patient without
hearing the patient himself or herself about the information on the
medicine ingested by the patient. Accordingly, the use of the
medicine ingestion state management method and the medicine
ingestion state management device makes it possible to prevent the
patient from being given prescription of a medicine incompatible to
the medicine that is actually ingested by the patient, and to
prevent an excessive dosage of the medicine to the patient.
[0013] It should be noted that when carrying out the medicine
ingestion state management method, each medicine information
transmitting unit be, it is desirable, configured so as to change a
mode of transmitting the medicine information from a mode kept so
far when the self-unit enters a predetermined in-vivo part. The
reason why so is that this change is a piece of information showing
a fact of the ingestion, since the medicine is not yet ingested, an
already-ingested medicine can be distinguished from the medicine
existing outside the body of the patient. Specifically, the mode
may be changed so that the medicine information contains
information corresponding to an ingestion date/time. From such a
piece of information corresponding to the ingestion date/time, it
can be specified as to whether the medicament in the medicine is
now within an in-vivo effective period or not, and hence this
information is useful for determining what type of medicament is
prescribed.
[0014] Further, a medicine ingestion state management method
according to another mode of the present invention is a method of
acquiring a medicine ingestion state of a patient via wireless
communications between a medicine encapsulating, together with a
medicament, a first type medicine information transmitting unit
having a function of transmitting medicine information defined as
information capable of specifying a type and a quantity of the
medicament, and a second type medicine information transmitting
unit having a function of transmitting second identifying
information associated with first identifying information
transmitted by the first type medicine information transmitting
unit and coming to a status of not transmitting the second
identifying information after the self-unit has entered a specified
in-vivo part, and a computer including a wireless communication
device and accessible to a database stored with the medicine
information and the type and the quantity of the medicament in a
way that associates these items of information with each other,
wherein the computer sequentially executes a medicine information
collecting step of making the computer collect the medicine
information and the first identifying information transmitted by
the first type medicine information transmitting unit existing
within a space within a predetermined range including the patient'
body, and the second identifying information transmitted by the
second type medicine information transmitting unit, and a gasping
step of grasping the ingestion state of the patient by making the
computer access the database and reads in the various items of
medicine information collected in the medicine information
collecting step, the type and the quantity of the medicament
associated with the medicine information containing the second
identifying information corresponding to the first identifying
information transmitted from the same first type medicine
information transmitting unit but not collected in the medicine
information collecting step.
[0015] Similarly, a medicine ingestion state management device
according to a second mode of the present invention is a device for
managing a patient's ingestion state of a medicine encapsulating,
together with a medicament, a first type medicine information
transmitting unit having a function of transmitting medicine
information defined as information capable of specifying a type and
a quantity of the medicament, and a second type medicine
information transmitting unit having a function of transmitting
second identifying information associated with first identifying
information transmitted by the first type medicine information
transmitting unit and coming to a status of not transmitting the
second identifying information after the self-unit has entered a
specified in-vivo part, the medicine ingestion state management
device comprising medicine information receiving means receiving
the medicine information and the first identifying information
transmitted by the first type medicine information transmitting
unit existing within a space within a predetermined range including
the patient, and the second identifying information transmitted by
the second type medicine information transmitting unit, searching
means accessing a database stored with the medicine information and
a type and a quantity of the medicament in a way that associates
these items of information with each other, and reading, in the
medicine information received by the medicine information receiving
means, the type and the quantity of the medicament associated with
the medicine information containing the second identifying
information corresponding to the first identifying information
transmitted from the same first type medicine information
transmitting unit but not received by the medicine information
receiving means, and information output means outputting
information representing the type and the quantity of the
medicament that are read by the searching means.
[0016] According to the medicine ingestion state management method
and the medicine ingestion state management device described above,
it is possible to grasp what type of medicine is ingested by the
patient without hearing the patient himself or herself about the
information on the medicine ingested by the patient and grasp
whether or not this medicine reaches a predetermined in-vivo part
where a medicine effect thereof can exhibit. Accordingly, the use
of the medicine ingestion state management method and the medicine
ingestion state management device makes it possible to prevent the
patient from being given prescription of a medicine incompatible to
the medicine that is actually ingested by the patient and exhibits
the medicine effect, and to prevent an excessive dosage of the
medicine to the patient.
[0017] Moreover, when using in combination an in-vivo effective
period representing a period during which ingredients of the
medicine keep effectiveness thereof after the ingestion and
ingestion date/time information acquired from the medicine
information transmitting unit, which are stored beforehand on the
database in a way that associates these items of information with
each record of medicine information, the ingredients of the
medicine of which the effect does not yet expire within the body of
the patient can be known. Hence, the prescription can be made by
collating the ingredients of this medicine with ingredients of a
scheduled-to-be-prescribed medicine, and it is therefore feasible
to prevent the patient from being given prescription of a medicine
incompatible to the medicine that is actually ingested by the
patient and actually exhibits the medicine effect, and to prevent
an excessive dosage of the medicine to the patient.
[0018] It should be noted that the medicine information
transmitting unit transmitting the medicine information containing
the ingestion date/time information can involve using a unit
including, for example, detection means detecting that the unit
enters a body, date/time specifying means specifying a date/time
when the detection means detects that the unit enters the body, and
means transmitting information associated with the type and the
quantity of the medicament occluded together with the self-unit and
the medicine information containing ingestion date/time information
representing a date/time specified by the date/time specifying
means. It should be noted that this detection means can involve
employing means detecting that the unit enters the body when the
medicine information transmitting unit touches a predetermined
substance existing in-vivo. For instance, the medicine information
transmitting unit can involve using means including power
generating means that starts generating power upon touching the
substance existing in-vivo, and means detecting that the unit
enters the body when power supply from the power generating means
is started.
[0019] Furthermore, the second type medicine information
transmitting unit can involve using a unit having a module becoming
a status of not transmitting the medicine information when
short-circuited is covered with a substance disappearing by
reacting on a digestive enzyme existing in the predetermined
part.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a
medicine used for a medicine ingestion state management method
according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
[0021] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a
medicine information transmitting unit encapsulated in the medicine
according to the first embodiment;
[0022] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of an
ingestion date/time determination module within the medicine
information transmitting unit according to the first
embodiment;
[0023] FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a medicine ingestion state
management device employed for the medicine ingestion state
management method according to the first embodiment;
[0024] FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a medicine database held
by the ingestion state management device according to the first
embodiment;
[0025] FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a patient database held
by the ingestion state management device according to the first
embodiment;
[0026] FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an ingestion state examining
process executable by the medicine ingestion state management
device according to the first embodiment;
[0027] FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a process executed with respect to
each ingestion medicine information group during the ingestion
state examining process;
[0028] FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of an examination result
screen displayed during the ingestion state examining process;
[0029] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of the
medicine used in a medicine ingestion state management method
according to a second embodiment of the present invention;
[0030] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of configurations of a
first type medicine information transmitting unit and of a second
type medicine information transmitting unit according to the second
embodiment;
[0031] FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a medicine ingestion
state management device employed in the medicine ingestion state
management method according to the second embodiment; and
[0032] FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the ingestion state examining
process executable by the medicine ingestion state management
device according to the second embodiment.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIRST EMBODIMENT
[0033] A medicine ingestion state management method according to a
first embodiment of the invention is a method enabling management
of a medicine ingestion state of each individual patient in a way
that prescribes a medicament having a special composition to each
patient.
[0034] Therefore, to start with, a composition of a medicine used
for the medicine ingestion state management method according to the
first embodiment of the invention, will hereinafter be described
with reference to the drawings in FIGS. 1 through 3.
[0035] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the medicine 10 employed for the
medicine ingestion state management method according to the first
embodiment, is a medicine, wherein a powdery or granular medicament
(depicted by black solid circles in FIG. 1) and a medicine
information transmitting unit 20 are encapsulated by a capsule 15
made from a material dissolvable within the stomach.
[0036] The medicine information transmitting unit 20 occluded
(encapsulated) into the medicine 10 is, as schematically shown in
FIG. 2, a unit having an in-vivo undissolvable protection member 22
that covers an IC chip 21 formed with a memory module 211 serving
as a storage means, an ingestion date/time determination module 212
serving as a date/time specifying means and a medicine information
transmitting module 213 serving as a medicine information
transmitting means, the chip 21 being attached with an antenna 23
and an electrode 24 as a detection means and as a power generation
means.
[0037] It is to be noted that the medicine information transmitting
unit 20 according to the first embodiment is a unit, wherein the IC
chip 21 is approximately 0.3 mm.times.0.3 mm in its size, the
antenna 23 and the electrode 24 are each approximately 5 mm in
their lengths, and the protection member 22 involves using
polyester or silicon as a material.
[0038] The memory module 211 provided on the IC chip 21 of the
medicine information transmitting unit 20 is classified as a
rewritable nonvolatile memory (which is an EEPROM (Electrically
Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) in the first embodiment).
Further, the medicine information transmitting module 213 is a
module supplied via the antenna 23 with electric power from a
reader unit 31 (see FIG. 4) that will be explained later on. The
medicine information transmitting module 213 is also a module
reaching a process-enabled status of executing, when supplied with
the power from the reader unit 31, a process of transmitting the
medicine information consisting of a medicine identifying code, a
unit ID, ingestion date/time information and medicine effective
period information that are stored on the memory module 211, and an
information write process of rewriting the medicine information
stored on the memory module 211 into information designated from by
the reader unit 31. Further, the medicine information transmitting
module 213 is a multi-accessible module.
[0039] Then, the medicine 10 according to the first embodiment is
delivered in a state, wherein the memory module 211 of the medicine
information transmitting unit 20 encapsulated therein is stored
with the medicine information code defined as information for
specifying contents (a type and a quantity) of the medicament
occluded into the medicine 10, the unit ID uniquely specifying the
medicine 10 (in the first embodiment, one medicine 10 contains the
single medicine information transmitting unit 20, and therefore it
follows that the unit ID uniquely specifies the individual medicine
information transmitting unit 20 among a multiplicity of medicine
information transmitting units 20 having the same medicine
identification code), the ingestion date/time information showing a
date and time when the medicine 10 was ingested ("null" is,
however, entered in this information field before the ingestion),
and the medicine effective period information defined as
information showing a medicine effective period (usage period) of
the medicine.
[0040] More specifically, the medicine 10 is manufactured in such a
way that after manufacturing the medicament having the composition
illustrated in FIG. 1, the medicine information transmitting unit
20, of which the memory module 211 gets stored with those items of
medicine information through the execution of the information
rewrite process by the medicine information transmitting module 213
of the medicine information transmitting unit 20, is encapsulated
together with the medicament into the capsule 15.
[0041] As obvious from the description made so far, the memory
module 211, the medicine information transmitting module 213 and
the antenna 23 of the medicine information transmitting unit 20 are
respectively components employed also in a transponder (a passive
type of device (an IC tag) which is information-writable and
multi-accessible) of an existing RFID (Radio Frequency
Identification) system.
[0042] By contrast, neither the ingestion date/time determination
module 212 nor the electrode 24 of the medicine information
transmitting unit 20 is a component used in the transponder of the
existing RFID system.
[0043] To be specific, the electrode 24 is the in-vivo (in gastric
juice) component for building up a battery of which an anode is the
antenna 23 and of which a cathode is the electrode 24. Then, the
ingestion date/time determination module 212 is a module that
starts, when the electrode 24 and the antenna 23 start functioning
as the battery (when supplied with the power as a result of the
ingestion of the medicine 10 and as a result of the dissolution of
the capsule 15), the processes in a procedure shown in FIG. 13.
[0044] Namely, the ingestion date/time determination module 212,
which starts being supplied with the power, after a start of
counting elapse time (step S101), reaches a status of monitoring
that a time code is received (step S102). Note that the time code
connotes information, representing the present time by an
electromagnetic radiation means, such as information (representing
the time displayed momentarily at an interval of 60 sec)
representing the present time, which is carried on the
standard-frequency-and-time-signal-waves transmitted by the
standard-frequency-and-time-signal-wave transmission station of the
Communications Research Laboratory.
[0045] When receiving the time code (step S102; YES), the ingestion
date/time determination module 212 decodes the received time code
and specifies the present date/time (step S103). Subsequently, the
ingestion date/time determination module 212 computes injection
date/time when starting counting the elapse time from the specified
present date/time and from a now-counting elapse time, and updates
the injection date/time information on the memory module 211 with
the information representing this ingestion date/time (step S104).
Then, the ingestion date/time determination module 212 finishes the
operation (comes to a status of executing nothing particular).
[0046] In short, the ingestion date/time determination module 212
and the electrode 24 are the components mounted on the medicine
information transmitting unit 20 in order to provide the function
of updating (rewriting) the ingestion date/time information (the
information to be transmitted as an element of the medicine
information) on the memory module 211 into the information showing
the date/time when the patient actually ingested the medicine
10.
[0047] Then, the medicine ingestion state management method
according to the first embodiment of the invention involves an
operation of prescribing the medicine 10 having the composition
described above to each individual patient and an operation of
grasping the medicine ingestion state of each individual patient,
wherein these operations are conducted by utilizing a medicine
ingestion state management device 30 installed in each place (which
is normally an interior of a hospital) and configured as shown in
FIG. 4.
[0048] The reader unit 31 serving as a wireless communication
device configuring this medicine ingestion state management device
30 is a unit having the same function as the reader (for the
passive type multi-accessible transponder) of the existing RFID
system has. A computer 32 is a computer of which a HDD is stored
with a medicine ingestion state management program, a medicine
management database and a patient database, or is a computer so
configured as to get accessible to the medicine management database
and the patient database via a network by executing the medicine
ingestion state management program.
[0049] Further, the medicine management database stored within the
computer 32 is a database stored, as schematically shown in FIG. 5,
with a product name, ingredients/potencies (a type and a quantity)
and an in-vivo effective period (a duration of the medicine effect
after the in-vivo ingestion) of a certain medicine, a medicine
identification code and ingredients of a should-not-be-employed
medicine in combination with the former medicine in a way that
associates these items with the medicine identification code.
Namely, from on this medicine management database, the product name
and the ingredients/potencies of the now-occluded/used-to-be
occluded medicament within the medicine 10 together with the
medicine information transmitting unit 20 can be specified from the
medicine identification code contained in the medicine information
transmitted by a certain medicine information transmitting unit 20,
and the medicine identification code, the ingredients, etc of the
should-not-be-employed medicine in combination with the above
medicine can be also specified.
[0050] The patient database is a database stored with, as
schematically illustrated in FIG. 6, basic information (consisting
of a name, a distinction of sex, a date of birth, an address, etc)
about each individual patient, information on a medical history,
information on whether the patient is allergic or not, information
on whether the patient is pregnant or not, prescription record
information consisting of some items of prescription information,
ingestion state examination record information consisting of some
items of examination result information (of which details will be
explained later on), etc in a format enabling these items of
information to be retrieved based on the patient ID etc assigned to
the patient. Note that the prescription information connotes
information inputted by an operator (who is normally a physician)
of the medicine ingestion state management device 30 and
representing a content of an instruction given to the patient by
the operator.
[0051] Then, the medicine ingestion state management program is a
program enabling the computer 32 (the medicine ingestion state
management device 30) to execute an ingestion state examining
process in a procedure shown in FIG. 7. It should be noted that the
medicine ingestion state management program is a program enabling
the computer 32 to execute, other than this ingestion state
examining process, a process of adding the prescription information
inputted by the operator to the patient database, and a process of
searching the medicine management database and the patient database
for a category of information instructed by the operator and
displaying the retrieved information. The ingestion state examining
process, of which the procedure is shown in FIG. 7, is started when
starting the examination of the medicine ingestion state (when
performing a predetermined operation) after the operator has
effected an operation (such as inputting the patient ID associated
with the examination subject patient) for designating the
examination subject patient upon the computer 32 kept in a status
where the medicine ingestion state management program is
executed.
[0052] To be specific, the computer 32 staring the ingestion state
examining process as a result of being given the instruction that
the medicine ingestion state should be examined, at first, executes
a process of collecting pieces of medicine information from all the
medicine information transmitting units 20 existing within a
communicable range of the reader unit 31 by use of the reader unit
31 (step S201). Note that the process in step S201 is executed in a
state where the reader unit 31 is directed to the examination
subject patient (the examination subject patient exists within the
communicable range of the reader unit 31). Accordingly, in step
S201, the medicine information is collected from all the medicine
information transmitting units 20 (the medicine information
transmitting unit 20 provided within the medicine 10 with the
capsule 15 dissolved, and the medicine information transmitting
unit 20 with the medicine encapsulated into the same capsule 15 and
then kept in a standby status for being discharged outside the body
after a termination of the in-vivo effective period) existing in
the in-vivo parts of the examination subject patients, and from the
medicine information transmitting units 20 existing in all the
not-yet-ingested medicines 10 held by the examination subject
patients, respectively (which corresponds to a medicine information
collecting step and medicine information receiving means).
[0053] The computer 32 finishing the process in step S201 executes,
based on the collected medicine information, a process of judging
whether or not the medicine that should not be used (ingested) at
the same point of time is included in a combination of medicines to
be ingested and held by the examination subject patient and whether
or not the examination subject patient ingests the medicine as
prescribed in a way that refers to the medicine database and the
patient database (step S202) (corresponding to a grasping step and
search means).
[0054] Specifically, in step S202, the computer 32 functions as
follows.
[0055] To begin with, the computer 32 judges whether or not "null"
is entered in the ingestion data/time information (field) in each
record of the collected medicine information. Then, the computer 32
stores each record of the medicine information with "null" entered
in the ingestion data/time information field as the medicine
information (which will hereinafter be referred to as the on-hold
medicine information) about the on-hold medicine (which is the
medicine 10 held by the examination subject patient), and also
stores each record of the medicine information with "null" not
entered in the ingestion data/time information field as the
medicine information (which will hereinafter be referred to as the
in-vivo medicine information) about the in-vivo medicine (which is
the medicine 10 ingested by the examination subject patient).
[0056] Subsequently, the computer 32 categorizes the thus-stored
ingestion medicine information into some groups each consisting of
one or more records of ingestion medicine information each having
the same medicine identification code, and also categorizes the
thus-stored on-hold medicine information into some groups each
consisting of one or more records of on-hold medicine information
each having the same medicine identification code.
[0057] Thereafter, the computer 32 executes processes in a
procedure shown in FIG. 8 with respect to each group concerning the
ingestion medicine information.
[0058] To start with, the computer 32 reads, from the medicine
database (see FIG. 5), various items of information (such as the
name of the product, the in-vivo effective period and the
uncombinable medicine/ingredient) associated with the medicine
identification code (which will hereinafter be termed a target
medicine identification code) contained in common in each record of
the ingestion medicine information belonging to a processing target
group (which will hereinafter be referred to as a target ingestion
medicine information group) (step S301). Subsequently, the computer
32 judges, based on the grasped in-vivo effective period, the
present date/time and the ingestion date/time information contained
in each record of the ingestion medicine information, whether or
not the medicine associated with each record of the ingestion
medicine information belonging to the target ingestion medicine
information group exists in an in-vivo effective state, and stores
a judgment result (step S302).
[0059] Moreover, the computer 32 executes a process of judging,
based on the target medicine identification code, the ingestion
date/time information contained in each record of the ingestion
medicine information belonging to the target ingestion medicine
information group and the prescription record information on the
examination subject patient within the patient database, whether or
not the associated medicine is prescribed to the examination
subject patient or is ingested as prescribed, and storing a
judgment result (step S303). The computer 32 also executes a
process of judging whether or not the information on the
uncombinable medicine/ingredient read from the medicine database
contains the information matching with the medicine identification
code contained in each record of the ingestion medicine
information/on-hold medicine information belonging to other groups,
and stores a judgment result (step S303). It should be noted that
the computer 32 executes also, though not shown, a process of
judging whether or not there expires the medicine effective period
specified by the medicine effective period information contained in
each record of the ingestion medicine information belonging to the
target ingestion medicine information group, and storing a judgment
result.
[0060] After executing these processes with respect to each target
ingestion medicine information group, the computer 32 executes a
process of reading, from the medicine database, with respect to
each group about the on-hold medicine information, the various
items of information associated with the medicine identification
code contained in common in each record of the ingestion medicine
information belonging to this group, a process of judging whether
or not the information on the uncombinable medicine/ingredient read
from the medicine database contains the information matching with
the medicine identification code contained in each record of the
ingestion medicine information/on-hold medicine information
belonging to other groups or information matching with a medicine
identification code of a certain medicine having a possibility of
being prescribed hereafter and storing a judgment result, and a
process of judging whether or not there expires the medicine
effective period specified by the medicine effective period
information contained in each record of the ingestion medicine
information belonging to the group, and storing a judgment
result.
[0061] Then, the computer 32, which has executed the processes of
those contents in step S202 (FIG. 7), executes, in subsequent step
S203, an examination result screen display process defined as a
process for displaying to the operator the examination/judgment
results given by the processes in step S202 (which corresponds to
information output means).
[0062] To be specific, when performing this examination result
screen display process, the computer 32 at first displays the
examination result screen of the contents as shown in FIG. 9 on the
display. Namely, the computer 32 displays the examination result
screen showing whether or not the medicine that should not be used
(ingested) at the same point of time is included in the combination
of medicines to be ingested and held by the examination subject
patient and whether or not the examination subject patient ingests
the medicine as prescribed.
[0063] Thereafter, the computer 32 comes to a standby status for
waiting for a "reexamination" button and a "prescription input
screen" button to be pressed on this examination result screen.
Then, the computer 32, when the "prescription input screen" button
is pressed, finishes the examination result screen display process,
and, after adding to the patient database the examination result
information consisting of the information representing the
examination/judgment results and the information representing the
date/time of the scheduled day as the information about the
examination subject patient (step S204), finishes the processes in
FIG. 7 (i.e., a process for accepting an input of the information
about the prescription is started).
[0064] Note that the "reexamination" button is a button that should
be pressed by the operator if the examination gets into a failure
due to some cause. When this "reexamination" button is pressed,
though a description in the flowchart is omitted, the computer 32,
after clearing the examination result (the information obtained by
the process in step S202), terminates the examination result screen
display process, and resumes the processes from step S201.
[0065] As explained above, in the medicine ingestion state
management method according to the first embodiment, the medicine
10 is prescribed for each individual patient, wherein the medicine
10 contains the medicament and the encapsulated medicine
information transmitting unit 20 for transmitting the medicine
information enabling the type and the quantity of the medicament to
be specified. Hence, according to the medicine ingestion state
management method, it is possible to grasp which medicine is
actually ingested by the patient without hearing the information on
the ingestion medicine from the patient, and therefore it follows
that the proper prescription is always made.
[0066] Moreover, the medicine information transmitted by the
medicine information transmitting unit 20 includes the ingestion
date/time information showing the date and time when the medicine
was ingested. Therefore, according to the medicine ingestion state
management method, it follows that it is feasible to make the more
proper prescription (based on the greater items of information)
than in the case of recognizing only which medicine is ingested by
each individual patient. Furthermore, it is also possible to grasp
whether or not the each medicine is ingested as prescribed.
[0067] Further, the medicine information transmitted by the
medicine information transmitting unit 20 is the information taking
a value different after and before the ingestion of the medicine,
and hence, according to the medicine ingestion state management
method in the first embodiment, it can be examined at one time
which medicament (the medicine 10) is ingested or held. Moreover,
the medicine information transmitted by the medicine information
transmitting unit 20 contains the medicine effective period,
whereby the medicament (the medicine 10) of which the medicine
effective period expires can be easily identified.
SECOND EMBODIMENT
[0068] The medicine ingestion state management method according to
a second embodiment of the present invention is similar to the
medicine ingestion state management method according to the first
embodiment. Therefore, in the following discussion, a content of
the medicine ingestion state management method according to the
second embodiment will be described in a way that puts a focus on a
difference from the medicine ingestion state management method
according to the first embodiment.
[0069] The medicine ingestion state management method according to
the second embodiment is a method conducted by use of a medicine 40
having a composition illustrated in FIG. 10.
[0070] Namely, the medicine 40 is a medicine, wherein a medicament
exhibiting it a medicament effect by absorption in the intestine
(depicted by black solid circles in FIG. 10), a first type medicine
information transmitting unit 50a and a second type medicine
information transmitting unit 50b are encapsulated by a capsule 45
made from a material dissolvable within the stomach.
[0071] The first type medicine information transmitting unit 50a
occluded (encapsulated) into the medicine 40 is, as schematically
shown in FIG. 11, a unit having an in-vivo undissolvable protection
member 52a that covers an IC chip 51 formed with a memory module
511 and a medicine information transmitting module 513, the chip 21
being attached with an antenna 53.
[0072] The IC chip 51 used for the first type medicine information
transmitting unit 50a is a chip substantially corresponding to the
IC chip 21 (see FIG. 2). Namely, the memory module 511 and the
medicine information transmitting module 513 formed on the IC chip
51 are the same as the memory module 211 and the medicine
information transmitting module 212 formed on the IC chip 21 except
such a point that the medicine information to be stored and
transmitted contains a type ID. Note that the type ID is
information specifying which unit, the first type medicine
information transmitting unit 50a (the type ID="A") or the second
type medicine information transmitting unit 50b (the type ID="B"),
the self-unit corresponds to. A combination of the type ID="A" and
a unit ID=@117, corresponds to first identifying information.
[0073] On the other hand, the second type medicine information
transmitting unit 50b is a unit having basically the same
configuration as the first type medicine information transmitting
unit 50a has, however, part (depicted by hatching in FIG. 11) of
the protection member 52b covering the IC chip 51 involves using a
substance reacting on a digestive enzyme existing in only an
alimentary canal where the medicament is absorbed. In short, the
second type medicine information transmitting unit 50b is
constructed such that shortly after entering the body, part of the
IC chip 51 is brought into contact with an in-vivo water content,
and, as a result of this, a circuit is short-circuited (so as not
to transmit the medicine information). Accordingly, when one
medicine 40 is ingested, the medicament reaches a specified in-vivo
part together with the second type medicine information
transmitting unit 50b and exhibits the medicament effect. Then,
part of the protection member 52b of the second type medicine
information transmitting unit 50b is dissolved, with the result
that the IC chip 51 of the second type medicine information
transmitting unit 50b is short-circuited. Thereafter, the
medicament effect of this medicament expires after en elapse of
in-vivo effective period. Namely, the actual medicament effective
period of the medicament in the medicine 40 is a length from a
point of time when the IC chip 51 of the second type medicine
information transmitting unit 50b is short-circuited up to a point
of time after the in-vivo effective period.
[0074] The first type medicine information transmitting unit 50a
and the second type medicine information transmitting unit 50b,
which are encapsulated in the same medicine 40, are coincident with
each other in terms of their medicine identification code and the
unit ID stored as the medicine information on the memory module 511
but are, as described above, different in their type IDs from each
other. A combination of the type ID="B" and the unit ID=@117
corresponds to second identifying information.
[0075] Then, the medicine ingestion state management method
according to the second embodiment of the present invention
involves an operation of prescribing the medicine 40 having the
composition described above to each individual patient and an
operation of grasping the medicine ingestion state of each
individual patient, wherein these operations are conducted by
utilizing a medicine ingestion state management device 60 installed
in each place (which is normally an interior of the hospital) and
configured as shown in FIG. 12.
[0076] This medicine ingestion state management device 60 is a
modified version of the medicine ingestion state management device
30 so as to execute an ingestion state examining process in a
procedure shown in FIG. 13 when given an instruction that the
medicine ingestion state should be examined.
[0077] To be specific, a computer 62 (the medicine ingestion state
management device 60) given the instruction that the medicine
ingestion state should be examined, at first executes a process of
collecting the medicine information from all of medicine
information transmitting units 50 (first type medicine information
transmitting units 50a or second type medicine information
transmitting units 50b) existing the in-vivo part of the
examination subject patient by use of a reader unit 61, and storing
the collected information as ingestion medicine information (step
S401) (which corresponds to a medicine information collecting step
and medicine information receiving means). Subsequently, the
computer 62 executes a process of collecting the medicine
information from all the medicine information transmitting units 50
held by the examination subject patient by use of the reader unit
61 and storing the collected information as the on-hold medicine
information (step S402) (which corresponds to on-hole medicine
information receiving means).
[0078] It should be noted that the process in step S401 is a
process executed after making the examination subject patient
present all the on-hold medicines 40 and placing these medicines 40
in a position that is away from the examination subject patient
(beyond a communicable range of the reader unit 61 directed to the
examination subject patient). Further, a process in step S402 is a
process executed after directing the reader unit 61 to the
medicines 40 placed in the position that is away from the
examination subject patient.
[0079] Then, the computer 62 finishing the processes in steps S401
and S402 executes, based on the collected ingestion medicine
information/on-hold medicine information, a process of judging
whether or not the medicine that should not be used (ingested) at
the same point of time is included in a combination of medicines to
be ingested and held by the examination subject patient and whether
or not the examination subject patient ingests the medicine as
prescribed in a way that refers to the medicine database and the
patient database (step S403) (which corresponds to a grasping step
and search means).
[0080] Specifically, in step S403, the computer 62 categorizes the
ingestion medicine information into some groups each consisting of
one or more records of ingestion medicine information each having
the same medicine identification code, and also categorizes the
on-hold medicine information into some groups each consisting of
one or more records of on-hold medicine information each having the
same medicine identification code. Thereafter, the computer 62
executes the following processes with respect to each of the groups
about the ingestion medicine information.
[0081] To begin with, the computer 62 searches through the medicine
database by employing, as a search key, the medicine identification
code (which will hereinafter be referred to as a target medicine
identification code) contained in common in each record of the
ingestion medicine information belonging to a processing target
group (which will hereinafter be referred to as a target ingestion
medicine information group), thereby grasping a product name, an
in-vivo effective period, etc that are associated with each record
of the ingestion medicine information.
[0082] Further, the computer 62 specifies, within the target
ingestion medicine information group, an in-vivo medicine count N1
in the ingestion medicine information (containing a first type
ID="A") transmitted by the first type medicine information
transmitting unit 50a, and specifies a medicine count N2 in the
ingestion medicine information (containing a second type ID="B")
transmitted by the second type medicine information transmitting
unit 50b. As a result, the computer 62 reckons the in-vivo
medicines 40 existing in the examination subject patient to be N1
and reckons the now-effect-keeping medicines 40 in the in-vivo
medicines 40 to be (N1-N2). Then, the computer 62 specifies the
product name, the ingredients, the potencies (the type and the
quantity) that are associated with the medicine identification code
in common in each record of the ingestion medicine information by
referring to the medicine database.
[0083] Moreover, the computer 62, in a way that uses, as a search
key, the target ingestion medicine identification code of the
medicine 40 of which one or more medicaments are judged to be now
keeping the medicine effect, executes a process of judging whether
or not the information on the uncombinable medicine/ingredient that
is read from the medicine database contains the information
associated with the medicine identification code contained in each
record of the ingestion medicine information/on-hold medicine
information belonging to some other group or associated with the
medicine identification code on the medicine having a possibility
of being prescribed hereafter and storing a result of the judgment,
and a process of judging whether the period specified by the
medicine effective period information contained in each record of
the ingestion medicine information expires or not and storing a
result of the judgment.
[0084] Further, the computer 62 executes, with respect to each
group about the on-hold medicine information, a process of reading
from the medicine database the various items of information
associated with the medicine identification code contained in
common in each record of the ingestion medicine information
belonging to this group, a process of judging whether or not the
information on the uncombinable medicine/ingredient that is read
from the medicine database contains the information associated with
the medicine identification code contained in each record of the
ingestion medicine information/on-hold medicine information
belonging to some other group and storing a result of the judgment,
and a process of judging whether the period specified by the
medicine effective period information contained in each record of
the ingestion medicine information belonging to this group expires
or not and storing a result of the judgment.
[0085] The computer 62 executing the processes having these
contents in step S403 executes, in subsequent step S404, an
examination result screen display process of displaying, though
similar to the examination result screen, an examination result
screen displaying "N1" and "N1-N2" as pieces of information
corresponding to the quantity of the in-vivo effective medicine and
the ingestion state (corresponding to an information output means).
Then, the computer 62, when the "prescription input screen" button
on the examination result screen is pressed, finishes the
examination result screen display process. Then, the computer 62
adds the examination result information consisting of the
information representing the examination/judgment result and the
date/time of the scheduled day as the information about the
examination subject patient to the patient database (step S405),
and thereafter terminates the processes in FIG. 13 (which means a
start of the process of accepting the input of the information on
the prescription).
[0086] As obvious from the discussion given above, according to the
medicine ingestion state management method according to the second
embodiment, also in the case of the medicine 40 occluding the
medicaments absorbed in the intestine, it is also specify the type
and the quantity of the medicament that now exhibits the medicine
effect in the intestine. Hence, when such a medicament is ingested,
it is feasible to specify the medicament that must not be
simultaneously ingested in terms of compatibility.
MODIFIED EXAMPLE
[0087] The medicine ingestion state management methods according to
the first embodiment and the second embodiment can be modified in a
variety of forms. For example, the medicine information
transmitting unit 20 encapsulated into the medicine 10 may be
configured by mounting a battery in the IC chip 21 instead of
providing the electrode 24. Further, in the second embodiment, as a
substitute for the first type medicine information transmitting
unit 50a, there may be employed a unit corresponding to the
medicine information transmitting unit 20 including the electrode
24 and the ingestion date/time determination module 212.
[0088] Moreover, the medicine 40 may be modified into a medicine
encapsulating one single unit having the function as the first type
medicine information transmitting unit 50a and the function as the
second type medicine information transmitting unit 50b. Note that
such a unit can be manufactured simply by, for example, connecting
two pieces of chips 51 to one antenna 53, and covering one chip 51
with the protection member 52a and the other chip 51 with the
protection member 52b. Further, such a unit can be manufactured
also by setting the chip 51 in such a status as to output a
different category of medicine information when a certain part is
short-circuited.
[0089] Furthermore, as a matter of course, the medicine information
transmitting units 20 and 50 may be configured to transmit the
medicine information showing more detailed contents, and the
medicine ingestion state management devices 30 and 60 may be
constructed to display the examination result screen displaying
contents different from those described above.
[0090] Still further, respectively in the first and second
embodiments, the capsule medicines configured by encapsulating the
medicine information transmitting units 20 and 50 have been
exemplified by way of the specific examples of the medicines 10 and
40, however, for instance, even medicines configured by
incorporating the medicine information transmitting units 20 and 50
together with tablets or granular medicaments into divided pieces
of wrap, become objects of the present invention.
* * * * *